There O-Line is good yes, but Thomas and Decker are nothing special and they lost Royal. I like Thomas, but him and Decker are just average receivers right now. Hopefully for Denver fans, Peyton can make them great, but I don't see Decker breaking out. Thomas has the potential to, but he needs Peyton to be the old Peyton.

I thought Decker played really well and he can only look better with Peyton at the helm.

Lets be real, the Broncos won a very tight division race.. three teams were at 8-8 and the Chiefs were 7-9. They had an ok draft, but not one you'd consider a slam dunk and their best WR is Eric Decker. They're not some offensive powerhouse.

And yes, Peyton is a first ballot HoFer, but he hasn't played in over a year and has had surgery recently. If this were any other player people would temper expectations but since it's Peyton it's omg super bowlz timezzz.

At this point the only thing the Broncos can do is be underwhelming. Everyone is picking them to dominate the AFC West and make a deep playoff run and I just don't see it happening.

I grew up in Northern California and most of my family there are still huge 49er fans, so I tend to watch a lot of their games, and that secondary does get **** on far too often by media/fans. It's a good unit. They're not GREAT, but they're definitely good enough. I don't see a defensive weakness on that team to be honest.

Over the past three years, the Chiefs have routinely drafted prospects that I love (outside Jon Baldwin...I ******* hated him as a prospect). The amount of talent they have stacked on that team is absolutely ridiculous. They have three Top 11 picks starting along the defensive line in Dorsey, Jackson and Poe, they have a very solid LB core with Hali and DJ as stalworts, and Flowers and Berry are both incredible young defensive backs. Not to mention, there's a ton of undeveloped talent like Allen Bailey, Justin Houston and others stashed in the depth of that defense.

Wouldn't shock me at all to see that become one of the NFL's elite units with RC in charge. IMO, KC should win that division and I wouldn't be shocked to see a playoff victory.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

The APS is strong in this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killxswitch

Tears for Fears is better than whatever it is you happen to be thinking about right now.

I mean, that defense was already pretty close to the very elite of the NFL with Jon McGraw and Sabby Piscitelli out there at S (don't get me wrong, I really like McGraw) and very little depth. They're now deep, more athletic, more talented, and more confident. How good that defense is going to be is severely underplayed.

I like KC a lot. I think they're stacked with talent. The problem is, Matt Cassell is just so terrible. If they get 2009 Matt Cassell who can manage the game, then watch out. But if not, then uhhh...they're not going anywhere.

I honestly think that the AFC West puts 2 teams in the playoffs this year. I think the Broncos are a lock, bc let's face it, it's Peyton Manning.

The 2nd team will be a race btw KC and SD. KC has a lot more overall talent, but SD has Philip Rivers. So it will be interesting to see how that shapes up.

No, you're wrong. They're giving the division to the team that actually WON it last year. That team aka the Denver Broncos, return with all of their key players and now have replaced (in the words of many people in this forum) the worst ever starting qb in the NFL Tim Tebow with 1st ballot HoF Peyton Manning. So no my friend, they're not giving the division to Peyton Manning.

So, you are saying they would still be the favorites if they didn't have Peyton Manning?

I´m not a homer, it happened, it's a fact. The Broncos won the division last year, won a playoff game and now return this year with an improvement at the QB position.

I´m not saying the Broncos are the best team ever and will definitely win the Super Bowl this year, my point is that it's not a stretch to say they are the favorites to win the division again.

Its pretty stretchy, I'd say. They replaced a young, sturdy QB with a winning record with an old, historically great QB coming off multiple neck surgeries. And Denver backed into the playoffs last year after losing to the Chiefs in Week 17. Assuming the Chiefs don't get raped by the injury bug again, I think they will beat Denver twice end route to an AFC West title. They will then lose in the 1st round unless their offensive line and defense take dramatic steps forward.

I don't really see why the Broncos should be favored over the Chiefs or anybody in the AFC West for that matter at the moment. A few months ago we weren't even sure if Peyton Manning would ever play again, and even when he was playing in 2010 he wasn't his usual dominant self. He had a little less zip on his throws, and without some of his longtime targets he looked a little off. I think some people expect now that Peyton is on a team with a little more talent to revert back to 2005 Peyton and start making a run at the record books again. So much of what Peyton does is dependent on timing and cohesion with his receivers, and being able to press the ball into tight spaces on seam routes and comeback routes. I'm not entirely sure if he'll be able to do that in a game setting again with all the injuries and new faces he has to deal with.

That defense needs a lot of work too. For a brief period of time they were dominant, but they were exposed badly pretty much any time they faced an explosive offense too. Detroit, New England, and Green Bay absolutely went off on them. Their defense doesn't excel in a lot of areas outside of Doom and Miller either.

Plus the fact that they have to face New England and Houston where a team like KC has to face Miami and Indianapolis doesn't help either.

Nobody in the division is a slam dunk, but unless Peyton comes back and is Peyton circa 3 years ago, I don't see how Denver is a better team than the rest of the division.